Te Panekiretanga o Te Reo Māori: Institute of Excellence in the Māori Language

Ko te reo kia tika, ko te reo kia rere, ko te reo kia Māori

Nau mai ki te whare makatea
o Te Panekiretanga o te Reo,
ki te whare e whakangungua ai koe ki te kai mārō,
e whakangaua ai koe ki te turuma o te paepae
kia kirikawa ki te kupu korokī, kia kirikawa ki te kupu korihi,
kia kirikawa ki te rākau, kia kiri horopū ki te parepare i a arero korokīkī

10 o Mahuru 2011

The start of a new journey took place at Te Ara o Tawhaki Marae, Eastern Institute of Technology, Taradale, on Saturday the 10th of September 2011. The new intake of 28 Māori students ascended onto the marae for the offical welcome into Te Panekiretanga o te Reo:  Institute of Excellence in the Māori Language.  This programme is a year long course that is run by total immersion monthly live in where students come together to develop their understanding of Te Reo Māori and Traditional customs.  The programme is run by Māori Language experts who provide experience, knowledge and wisdom around kaupapa Māori. 

Taku Whānau

The most important thing to me is 'whānau'.  Within all the activities that I am involved with whānaungatanga is the base of all of these activities.  My immediate whānau plays a supportive role in enabling me to do these activities, vice versa I am supportive and involved with whānau take and celebrations.  We regularly met for whānau hui at our papa kainga ki Pouawa, at our marae, at our whānau home in Kākāriki and we all support each other in everyday living.  I would not be able to do all these activities without the support of my immediate whānau, Te Tū Mataora whānau, Kura Reo whānau, Pīnakitanga whānau me te whānau o te kura.

"Mā pango, mā whero, ka oti ai te mahi."

Te Tū Mataora

Te Tū Mataora is a local kapa haka group based in Palmerston North.  The group is made up of experienced kapa haka performers who are passionate about revitalising waiata and haka of our tipuna (ancestors).  This group was formed in 2007 when a group of people who are passionate about this tikanga got together and decided to create Te Tū Mataora.  Our group is led by three experienced tutors who are competent with a variety of skills in many areas of kapa haka. Te Tū Mataora have recently returned from an overseas experience in Hawai'i, where the group was invited to perform at the Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo, earlier this April.  Te Tū Mataora is currently preparing waiata and haka to start practising for our local kapa haka regionals in March 2012.  I am proud to be an active member of this roopu where I am able to learn waiata and haka and also support with writing new material for waiata when necessary.  Tū te Ao, Tū te Pō!

Te Pīnakitanga ki te Reo Kairangi

In 2009 I was a student with Te Wānanga o Aotearoa enrolled in Te Pīnakitanga ki te Reo Kairangi .  This is a Level 7 Te Reo Māori programme that develops your fluency and ability to communicate in te reo and apply tikanga Māori within a wide range of contexts. The skills attained  will help meet a great need in the public and private sectors of the workforce for people with knowledge and understanding of te reo and tikanga Māori.  The programme consisted of the following:

• ngā āhuatanga o te reo – using grammar and a wide range of grammatical structures within te reo Māori
• whakaMāori/whakapākehā – producing accurate translations of selected texts from English to te reo Māori and te reo Māori to English
• pūrākau/pakiwaitara – explaining and critically analysing the traditional and continuing role of pūrākau/pakiwaitara (stories and legends) as knowledge frameworks
• opaki/ōkawa – applying knowledge of informal and formal language
• waiata/haka – applying specialised knowledge through exploration and practice of traditional waiata and haka
• karanga – researching and evaluating specific aspects of karanga and analysing the impact on karanga with changes over time
• whaikōrero – researching and evaluating specific aspects of whaikōrero and analysing the impact on whaikōrero of changes over time.

I successfully completed this course and graduated in 2010.

Kura Reo - Total Immersion Māori Language Hui

Every holidays I regularly attend the total immersion Māori Language course.  These courses are run by experienced fluent speakers of the langauge.  Each year a series of four, week long Kura Reo, aimed at intermediate to fluent speakers of te reo Māori, are held at four key locations across the country. These locations include Rotorua, Hawkes Bay, Manawatu, and Christchurch. The Kura Reo are held in the first week of each school holiday break and are funded by Mā Te Reo. Any given Kura Reo can attract up to 100+ students.  The content of every course focuses on grammar, phrases and proverbs, translation of Māori to English and English to Māori, comprehension, composing songs and creative writing. 

Kapa Haka with Mainstream children @ Central Normal School

Every Friday I take Kapa Haka for children from mainstream classes.  There are four teams in the kura and 3 mainstream teams that are from the Junior, Middle and Senior School.  Each week I alternate between teams and teach the children waiata relevant to their learning needs.  These waiata can be songs about acknowledgement, praise and learning.  At the moment the tamariki have been learning about a significant mountain of importance to our local iwi, Rangitāne.  The tamariki thoroughly enjoy learning waiata and look forward to coming to Kapa Haka each week.

Te Reo Māori at Central Normal School - Professional Development

HE REO TUPU, HE REO ORA!

One of my roles at Central Normal School is to provide assistance to all teachers in mainstream classes with teaching Te Reo Māori in their programmes.  The Ministry has recently released a new resource called 'He Reo Tupu, He Reo Ora'.  There are three main components in this resource; they are Section One:  Using this Resource, Section Two:  Unit Plans and Section Three:  Teaching Te Reo Māori Effectively.  A staff meeting was held to briefly discuss how to effectively use this resource with the majority of thesession focussing on how to use a unit plan.  We looked at 'taku akomanga' my classroom as this was a common topic that we could all relate to.  We trialled all of the activities for this unit where the teachers had to rotate around the different activities to practise their Te Reo Māori.